No matter what competitors say

Bicycling Magazine tweeted a couple of days ago:

.@rachelvmckinnon is going to continue racing—doing what she loves to do, which she has a right to do—no matter what internet commenters or competitors say.

The linked article is from January.

The wording of the tweet is odd. It sounds like any male abuser or schoolyard bully…you can almost hear the word “bitch” as you read it. That “no matter what competitors say” – that’s a defiance too many, I would think. “McKinnon is going to continue cheating no matter what competitors say” – they really want to go there?

It’s also an odd picture to use. McKinnon towers over the woman, which underlines the fact that he’s cheating.

Reactions are not uniformly impressed.

So brave of you to encourage and support cheating. So very brave and…predictable.

And a female athlete is excluded every time Rachel competes. So inclusive.

Women rarely win against men in competitive sport because male bodies are bigger. That’s why female categories were established, not to accommodate the inner ‘feelings’ of individuals.

Of course Rachael has a right to compete, IN THE MALE CATEGORY.

As usual my question is, who came 4th? Because that’s the woman who’s been cheated out of a medal & a place on that podium, that’s the woman who may now not get a sponsorship, that’s the woman who has trained hard but lost to a man. McKinnon isn’t a world Champion, he’s a cheat.

There’s just nothing quite like it for reminding us that we – women – don’t matter.

Comments

5 responses to “No matter what competitors say”

  1. iknklast Avatar

    Is it just me, or does the smile on the woman’s face look forced, while McKinnon has a great big grin?

  2. Ophelia Benson Avatar

    Oh, far from just you.

  3. Jim Baerg Avatar

    One of the comments to the tweet linked to this:

    http://annelawrence.com/shame_&_narcissistic_rage.pdf

    What I’ve read so far fits my hypothesis that if we didn’t have the arbitrary division of activities into masculine & feminine, a lot of transgender people would be quite happy to be males who like doing things that another society would label ‘feminine’ or females who like doing things’ that another society would label ‘masculine’.

  4. Holms Avatar

    That photo is an example of McKinnon’s bullying: sports competitors are under great social expectation that they will be good sports about losing, including shaking the hand of the person that beat them. That photo reads very much like McKinnon rubbing in his physical dominance.

  5. Screechy Monkey Avatar
    Screechy Monkey

    Holms — not just social expectation. In one of the other stories posted here recently, it was reported that the athletes had to smile and pose for pictures or else be sanctioned by the governing body.